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Wednesday, 31 July 2013

I can tell that my brain needs a holiday. A real, few-weeks-away-from-life holiday.

Soon.

I'm starting to fret about work. Getting enough hours, and whether or not I am doing my job well, relationships, and numerous other aspects.

I need to just let it go.

Trevor and I recently made the difficult decision to leave our church care group of four years. While we are all great friends there are certain dynamics that we are struggling with and our life is getting so busy that we weren't enjoying it the same way. I worry about these friendships; that they will not survive the absence of weekly connection. I worry that I'll be lonely and not have the support I require.I need to let it go. We own a rental property and have had nothing but headaches with the upstairs tenants during the past four months. They are out as of tomorrow which is good because it needs some serious TLC before it is habitable for anyone else. But we have no new renters in place yet and we leave on holidays for two weeks right when inquiries will be the strongest and in its current state it does not show well and I have limited time to clean it......I need to let it go.

I will be spending a week with my in-laws which I will endure. I do not dislike them but I'm not sure I really like them. I don't know them. I mean really know them; I have no relationship with them. I've had them in my life for 17 years but they offer little of themselves. I've accepted it and mourned that I will never know them in the way I typically like to know people. It sure makes for awkward times when we see them though for I feel I can't be myself.I need to let it go.I worry about driving all day. I worry about keeping my sanity with my kids as we encounter new experiences over the next couple of weeks. I worry about health. I worry about good weather. I worry.....I need to Let. It. Go.

Thursday, 25 July 2013

I'd like to say that after the pictures of my sad garden and yard we were done with storms.

But I can't

Last Wednesday my mom and I were at our weekly golf game warily eying the looming black clouds. By hole three the rumbling was echoing among those clouds but we had yet to see the lightening. The clouds had eerie bumps in them and the air was thick and humid. My mom left, not wanting to risk another hail damaged vehicle. I golfed on. Ay the beginning of hole 5 I actually saw lightening and before we could finish putting the air-horn sounded indicating that we needed to get off the course. I raced home, (the storm literally right on my bumper) covered my newly planted second-round petunias and sought cover inside my house. The skies soon opened up with torrents of rain that left many-a lake and puddle. I live a mere fifteen minutes from the city but what the city experienced compared to what we had was incredible. We just had hard rain. The south end of the city had what is a called a microburst, the opposite of a tornado where the wind pushes out instead of sucking into a funnel. RV's were flipped over, road signs broken off, rooves and siding destroyed, large trees snapped like toothpicks -"like nothing ever seen before." (quotes I heard/read from many people). No one was injured, thankfully.It is just not ending.So when the dark clouds circled again last night while we were on the golf course my mom and I golfed with one eye on the sky. Our game was not very good. But the evil clouds moved south and did nothing.It is completely amazing how after these crazy acts of nature everything rebounds. My shredded garden turned brown in the days that followed the hail storm and I was just pulling out the crispy pea plants when I noticed that some of them were growing at the base! The same with the tomato plants. Now it is likely too late in the season to expect to get tomatoes from those plants but they are still alive.Now if only siding and fascia would do the same! lol

Monday, 15 July 2013

The hail and storms have tired themselves out here over Southern Alberta and we have been left alone for a week now.

Our yard actually needs water!

We've been enjoying some heat interspersed with a cooler day here and there. Trevor and I said to heck with our yard (it's in a rather sad state anyway) and went golfing Saturday morning. My mom was having grand-kid with-drawl and we were more than happy to remedy that. We ended up puttering around a bit in the yard in the afternoon just to alleviate the guilt of not accomplishing anything. Saturday evening/night and all day Sunday were spent with friends camping at a local Provincial Park that has a mudhole lake. It was a lot of fun - our kids were so bagged it was awesome!!!

Work sucks in summer because, seriously, who wants to work in summer? Especially when we only have limited summer to begin with. Frame buying is still fun though; I'm getting free stuff!

In a little under three weeks our real holidays begin. For the first week we are going on our annual BC coast trek. Not so excited. (inlaws) Oh wait, I take that back. We have many fantastic friends we'll hopefully see plus a ball game in Seattle. Plus my brother-in-law's girlfriend manages an Olive Garden and there's a very good possibility we'll get a VIP meal there. The second week we are camping with my parents.

But I don't want to rush the next few weeks because 'rushing' and 'summer' are a terrible combination.

Other than some yard work and day trips and enjoying both kids at home the days really don't hold too much.

Wednesday, 10 July 2013

A couple of weeks ago I posted some pictures of a massive storm that ripped through our city/town and the southern half of our province. At the time I had no idea of the complete and utter devastation that would ensue.

It kept raining you see.

The rivers rose. And rose. And rose.

The city of Calgary (250km north of us) has two rivers running through it and once it spilled its banks the entire downtown was flooded. Many residential areas near the river also suffered. I used to live in that city. My heart sank.

The town of High River(south of Calgary) had barely a house or building exempt from flooding. My heart sank with Calgary but with High River in broke. Basements were full and main floors half full of water. Residents were evacuated for over two weeks. Now the clean-up is on and it is a race against time and the mold. Debris from the cleaned out houses is piled everywhere on the streets.

Every. Single. Refrigerator/freezer had to be Duck-taped shut and removed from houses without opening them for proper disposal. Imagine a fridge full of food left uncool for over two weeks because there was no power and residents were not allowed in their homes. Toxic. The stories go on. I can't even.....

That first storm that pummeled usblo was not to be the last. Two more ferocious hail storms pounded hail and rain upon us of epic proportions. Plus there was more rain in between.
Yes, my yard is devastated and looks like a salad spinner went crazy with all the plants and I am sad. We have a few pieces of cracked siding and may end up having our shingles replaced. But I count my lucky stars that is all I have to deal with!

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

As a little girl, somewhere around Sierra's age now, my dadtaught me to fish.

Among the many memories of numerous fishing trips my brain holds strong to one in particular. I was probably around five and went along on a fishing excursion with my dad, uncle, and cousin. My uncle had a boat and we went out on a mountain lake. I recall having to wear one of those dorky, uncomfortable, bib life jackets and envying the vest style my dad and uncle got to wear. Anyway, it was a relatively quiet fishing day - aside from our chatting - with minimal action on the ends of our lines. Then I must have had the lucky rod that hit the lucky spot because two large trout found their way to my hooks. Nearly one after the other and they were almost half my size! Much to the disgust of my dad and uncle those were the only fish caught that day. There is an old photo me, wearing one of those vest life jackets going past my knees, holding those two fish by a chain with a totally disgusted look on my face.

I was 'hooked', still am, and have passed on my love of fishing to my husband and now my kids. The first time we went with Sierra was last fall and we thought for sure she'd be bored in ten minutes. No way! She had more patience than the rest of us and that carried on this year too.

As soon as her rod jiggled she was reeling that 'sucker' in. Typically girl and typically six she got frustrated and freaked out easily so one of us adults ended up helping a lot. Her official first fish was actually reeled in and landed by me! That didn't matter to her though, as far as Sierra was concerned it was her first fish.

My mom also bought Sawyer his first fishing rod. There were no hooks on the end of his line though - too dangerous! Various hookless items were tied to the end for him to play with. Trevor would toss the line out into the water and let Sawyer reel it in. Sawyer loved it.

My big fish got away (don't they always) but I did land a small one so together with Sierra's little fish we had a enough for Tuesday's supper. It was delicious and even Sierra ate it!

My kids are getting more and more able to do stuff and it is so great!

How to introduce myself in a few words....well, my names is Carla. I am married to Trevor, and he's pretty awesome. I have two kids, Sierra (b. 2007) and Sawyer (b. 2010), they're pretty awesome too I live in a small town in Southern Alberta. I work outside the home part-time and inside the home full time. I have an obsession with painted nails, eyeglasses, and matching outfits.I'm a coffee and wine snob (no home brew or Folgers please!)I am also focused on exercise and being healthy and enjoying it. (no crazy 'diets' for me)Awhile back I realized that I have not been living as the genuine me. I had begun to act like someone else, someone I thought people wanted to me to be. That disturbed me. I vowed to rediscover me. The real me. This space is ME being honest and expressing myself about my day to day life with day to day ups and downs.